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w«^ 


"dec  291925    Warfielcl Li^»^^ 


■<?/, 


[An  Address  to  the  Students  of  Princeton 
University,  in  Marquand  Chapel,  Sunday 
;  afternoon,  January  30,  1898.  By  President 
:  Patton.]   , 

At  their  meeting  in  October  the  attention 
of  our  Trustees  was  turned  to  the  recent 
agitation  which  has  so  seriously  involved 
the  good  name  of  Princeton  University.  A 
committee,  of  which  I  was  chairman,  was 
appointed  to  consider  the  whole  subject  and 
,  repoit  at  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Trus- 
tees.  That  report  was  presented  and  adopt- 
ed at  the  meeting  held  on  the  23d  of 
December.  It  was  resolved  that  a  strict 
literal  and  impartial  enforcement  of  the  ex- 
isting laws  respecting  intoxicating  drinks 
be  enjoined  upon  the  Faculty ;  and  that 
the  President  of  the  University  be  asked  to 
■  make  a  statement  to  the  students  upon  the 
whole  question  at  such  time  as  may  suit  his 
convenience. 

I  come  before  you  this  afternoon  for  the 
:  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the 
Trustees  in  respect  to  the  second  point  in 
i  the  report  just  referred  to.  As  we  have 
;just  observed  the  day  of  prayer  for  colleges, 
j  I  do  not  know  that  a  more  fitting  time 
I  could  be  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
•  this  important  subject  to  your  notice. 

I  bear  grateful  testimony  to  the  high 
;  moral  toneof  the  students  of  this  University. 
'■  I  know  that  they  have  been  misrepresented 
;  and  misunderstood.  Their  hilarity,  their 
boisterous  outbursts  of  exuberance,  their 
.  song-singing  which  often  has  a  more  i3ac- 
■'  ehannlian  sound  than  I  could  wish,  and    in 


some  instances  their  inexcusable  acts  of 
wrong-doing  have  produced  impressions 
which  the  facts  will  not  justify;  and  they 
have  on  many  occasions  been  charged  with 
drunkenness  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
under  the  influence  of  the  gregarious  in- 
stinct which  sometimes  assumes  an  almost 
irrational  mode  of  expression,  animal  spirits 
have  been  allowed  too  much  freedom,  and 
speech  and  action  have  not  been  kept  within 
those  metes  and  bounds  which  mature  men 
in  the  busy  walks  of  life  are  apt  to  associate 
with  sobriety.  I  am  sure  that  so  far  as 
good  behaviour  is  concerned  the  undergrad- 
uate of  Princeton  is  not  behind  the  under- 
graduate body  of  any  university  in  the 
land  ;  and  I  am  proud  to  say,  on  what  I 
feel  is  good  authority,  that  the  Princeton 
undergraduate  of  to-day  does  not  suffer  by 
comparison  with  the  Princeton  under- 
graduate of  bygone  days.  There  never 
was  less  reason  for  adverse  criticism  of 
Princeton  than  during  the  period  in  which 
it  has  been  so  unsparingly  bestowed  upon 
us.  I  have  taken  pains  to  find  out  the  truth, 
and  I  am  still  unshaken  in  my  conviction 
that  the  tendency  in  Princeton  is  steadily  in 
the  direction  of  a  diminished  use  of  alcoholic 
drini<s.  Still,  I  must  not  be  blind  to  facts  ; 
and  after  making  all  allowance  for  wilful  mis- 
representation or  mistake  I  am  constrained 
to  believe  that  there  is  far  more  of  what  is 
called  moderate  drinking  among  us  than  the 
wisest  and  best  friends  of  Princeton  could 
wish  ;  and  that  there  are  those  among  you 
who  are  putting  tlieir  future  in  peril  by 
the  excessive   use   of    stimulants.     Instan- 


ces  of  intoxication  are  comparatively  rare, 
but  they  nccur  nevertheless,  and  there  is  a 
tendency  I  find,  even  among  some  of  those 
who  cannot  be  charged  with  it  themselves, 
to  think  too  lightl}-  of  the  sin  of  drunken- 
ness. I  shall  not  discuss  the  general  ques- 
tion of  intemperance,  nor  consider  the  rela- 
tive degrees  of  wisdom  that  characterize 
the  different  modes  of  dealing  with  it.  On 
the  latter  question  good  men,  actuated  by 
the  purest  motives,  differ  widely,  and  we  as 
Christian  men  are  bound  to  respect  their  con- 
scientious judgments.  Some  think  that  the 
matter  should  be  dealt  with  by  legislation, 
either  by  absolute  Prohibition  or  by  the 
restricted  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks.  Some, 
with  conscientious  regard  to  individual 
liberty,  are  opposed  to  what  are  known  as 
sumptuary  laws.  Wh^n  we  admit  that  the 
sale  of  a  commodity  should  be  restricted 
we  so  far  forth  concede  the  principle  of 
State  control.  The  question  after  that  is 
one  of  degree,  and  the  answer  to  it  is  to  be 
found  in  considerations  of  expediency  and 
by  inquiring  which  method  best  serves  the 
end  in  view.  The  Prohibitionist  must  not 
be  scorned  as  the  invader  of  liberty  ;  and 
the  advi  cate  of  high  license  must  not  be  de- 
nied his  right  to  be  regarded  as  working  in 
the  iniert-sis  of  Temperance.  I  am  not 
here  concerned  with  the  general  question 
as  to  what  is  wise  legislative  policy. 
It  is  with  the  ethical  side  of  Tem- 
perance and  not  its  political  side  that  I 
am  dealing.  It  is  not  of  Temperance  in 
general,  but  of  Temperance  in  Princeton 
University,   that   I    wish   to  speak.     And 


speaking  under  even  these  limitations  it  is 
not  with  the  disciplinary  side  of  the  ques- 
tion that  I  wish  to  deal  in  what  I  say  this 
afternoon'.  There  is  nothing  unnatural  in 
the  desire  of  the  Trustees  for  a  vigilant  en- 
forcement of  what  has  for  many  j'ears  been 
the  law  of  the  University  in  regard  t<) 
alcoholic  liquors.  That  law  is  wise  and 
wholesome;  and  while  I  am  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  your  feeling  that  the  University 
man  is  not  to  be  treated  as  though  he  were 
in  a  preparatory  school,  I  am  ready  to  take 
my  full  share  of  responsibility  for  the  report 
which,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  deal- 
ing with  the  question,  I  made  to  the  Board 
of  Trustees.  I  am  in  full  sympathy  with 
the  action  of  the  Trustees  with  regard  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  existing  law,  and  I 
feel  that  the  administration  of  that  law  can 
bo  wisely  left  to  the  good  sense  and  Christ- 
ian judgmentof  the  Dean  of  this  University. 
In  what  I  say  this  afternoon  I  wish 
to  bring  the  moral  influence  of  this  pulpit 
to  bear  upon  the  grave  question  with  which 
we  have  to  deal.  I  am  sure  that 
the  good  sense  of  the  better  part  of 
the  University  will  be  in  sympathy  with 
the  maintenance  of  a  high  disciplinary 
standard.  I  am  confident  that  in  the  long 
run  our  course  will  commend  itself  to  the 
calm  and  balanced  judgment  of  the  'Chris- 
tian public.  I  believe  that  we  shall  find  it 
possible  to  have  such  a  wise  execution  of 
this  law  as  will  accomplish  the  ends  which 
we  wish  to  realize  without  fostering  hypoc- 
risy or  developing  the  vieu  <'f  >eerit  drinking. 
But  we  shall  have  need  of  great  wisdom,  and 


I  think  I  may  fairly  ask  all  who  have  the  in- 
terests of  Princeton  at  heart  to  trust  the  men 
who  are  called  to  the  responsible  position  of 
guiding  her  aftairs. 

There  are  two  classes  of  men  whom  I 
have  particularly  in  mind :  those  who  have 
already  fallen  into  intemperate  habits  and 
those  who  are  in  danger  of  forming  those 
habits.  I  know  that  there  are  some  who  do 
not  make  much  of  the  distinction  between 
these  two  classes,  and  who  therefore,  as  they 
happen  to  be  habitually  lenient  or  severe  in 
their  judgments, are  apt  to  waste  too  much 
pity  on  the  man  who  is  guilty  of  habitual  in- 
toxication or  else  to  treat  the  moderate  drink- 
er as  a  drunkard.  But  the  distinction  is  a 
valid  one,  and  simple  justice  requires  us  to 
make  it.  Now,  I  wish  to  say  that  drunk- 
enness is  practically  an  unpardonable  sin  in 
our  academic  life.  I  do  not  forget  the  duty 
I  owe  men  to  counsel,  to  warn  them,  and  to 
labour  for  their  improvement.  There  have 
been  men  in  all  these  years  of  my  adminis- 
tration who  know  how  faithfully  they  have 
been  dealt  with  in  regard  to  this  sin  which 
ruins  both  body  and  soul.  But  with  the 
utmost  desire  to  reclaim  the  erring,  and 
making  every  allowance  for  the  mistakes  of 
youth,  it  must  be  understood  that  a  man 
cannot  be  guilty  of  repeated  acts  of  intoxi- 
cation and  continue  in  this  University  if 
his  offence  is  known  to  the  authorities. 

I  wish  more  particularly,  however,  to  say 
a  kindly  word  to  those  who  are  understood  to 
be  moderate  drinkers.  I  shall  take  the  liberty 
of  giving  them  some  advice;  and  thebasis  for 
that  advice  I  must  find  of  course  in  the  New 


Testament  1  do  not  believe  that  the  mor- 
alisation  of  societj'  has  reached  the  point  of 
superseding  the  Bible.  I  cannot  accept 
any  conclusions  of  the  so-called  Christian 
consciousness  that  would  contradict  or  tran- 
scend the  ethics  of  Jesus  and  St.  Paul. 

There  is,  let  me  say,  no  great  diflBculty 
in  morals  where  we  recognize  our  duty  as 
defined  by  objective  law.  The  difl[iculty 
emerges  when  the  conscience  must  first  issue 
the  command  which  she  has  to  obey  ;  for  in 
this  case  there  is  required  not  only  the  will  to 
do  what  is  seen  to  be  duty,  but  the  clearness 
of  vision  necessary  to  the  forming  of  a  con- 
scientious judgment.  I  can  only  hope  for 
my  advice  that  it  may  help  you  to  form  a 
conscientious  judgment.  Some  of  you 
will  remember  what  Kant  said  in  regard  to 
the  autonomy  of  the  will,  and  how  he  in- 
sisted that  the  law  to  be  moral  must  be  self- 
legislated.  Of  course  Kant  carried  this 
idea  too  far;  but  there  is  nevertheless  a 
sphere  of  conduct  in  which  the  conscience 
must  be  autonomous.  It  is  precisely  in 
respect  to  this  very  matter  of  the  autonomy 
of  the  individual  conscience  that  St.  Paul, 
writing  under  the  influence  of  Inspiration, 
makes  his  conspicuous  contribution  to 
Christian  Ethics  in  his  great  utterance,  "  If 
meat  make  my  brother  to  offend  I  will  eat 
no  meat  while  the  world  stands."  This  is 
the  language  in  which  Paul  enunciates  his 
conscientious  purpose  in  respect  to  a  con- 
crete matter  in  the  light  of  the  principle  of 
Christian  expediency.  This  passage,  taken 
in  connection  with  others  of  a  similar  import, 
may  be  regarded  as  giving  us  the  Pauline 


doctrine  respecting  the  autonomy  of  the  indi- 
vidual conscience.  According  to  this  doc- 
trine then  there  are  certain  things  concerning 
which  there  is  nn  objective  law  ;  and  tnere- 
fore  since  there  is  no  objective  law  defin- 
ing conduct,  I  am  absolutely  free  in  refer- 
ence to  them.  Were  there  any  law  in  regard 
to  these  things  I  should  not  only  be  bound 
by  it,  but  I  should  be  open  to  the  criticism 
of  my  fellow-men  if  I  disobeyed  it.  For  bind- 
ing me  and  my  fellow-men  alike  it  would  be 
the  rule  of  each  for  himself  and  the  canon  by 
which  every  man  might  fairly  judge  his 
neighbor.  Now  in  regard  to  these  matters 
about  which  there  is  no  objective  law,  I  must 
occupy  the  double  position  of  first  enunci- 
ating and  then  obeying  the  command  that 
is  to  rule  my  will.  The  consequence  of 
this  position  is  very  obvious.  If  an  at- 
tempt is  made  to  impose  an  external  law 
upon  my  conscience  which  I  know  is  not 
binding,  1  resent  it  and  assert  my  liberty  ; 
and  I  do  well  in  so  doing.  It  is  just 
because  so  many  do  not  recognize  this 
sphere  of  the  autonomy  of  the  conscience 
that  they  undertake  to  make  what  they  feel 
is  law  for  them  the  law  for  other  people 
also,  and  so  become  censorious;  and  criticise 
and  blame  where  they  have  no  right  to 
criticise  and  blame.  On  the  other  hand, 
while  I  may  very  properly  assert  my  liberty 
if  it  is  assailed,  I  may  also  conscientiously 
conclude  that  it  is  my  duty  to  forego  the 
exercise  of  my  liberty.  In  doing  this  I 
issue  a  command,  and  am  as  much  bound 
by  this  subjectively-enunciated  command 
as  though  it  were  a  binding  objective  law. 


I  do  not  hold  then  that  the  doctrine  of 
Christian  expediency  resolves  itself  into 
prudence.  A  conscientious  judgment  of 
duty  is  duty,  even  though  it  be  dictated 
by  a  benevolent  regard  for  others 
or  a  prudent  regard  for  one's  own  interest. 
The  voluntary'  abstention  from  the  doing  of  » 
that  which — so  far  as  any  objective  law  is  ^ 

concerned — I  am  at  full    liberty  to  do,  may  r, 

appear  to  me  to  be  a  duty  and  in  so  far  as  r 

it  seems  to  be  a  duty  it  is  a  deliverance  of 
conscience  and  binding  upon  me  in  the 
sight  of  God.  But  it  must  be  understood 
that  while  being  felf-enunciated  I  am  bound 
to  obey  the  command,  I  would  if  it  were 
not  self-enunciated,  resent  any  attempt  to 
impose  it  upon  me  from  without,  seeing  that 
there  is  no  extf^rnal  law  to  serve  as  a  com- 
mon measure  between  minds  in  regard  to 
the  matter  with  which  it  is  concerned.  It 
is  easy  from  this  to  see  the  double  and  what  at 
first  appears  to  be  the  inconsistent  attitude  of 
St.  Paul  where  on  the  one  hand  he  sharply 
rebukes  the  man  who  presumes  to  dictate  to 
his  neighbour,  saying,  "  Who  art  thou  that 
judgest  another  man's  servant,  to   his  own  ^ 

master  he  standeth  or  falleth,"  and  on  the  f 

other  hand  exhorts   men  to  use  their  liberty  \ 

under  the  restraints  of  the  law  of  Christian  y 

charity  and  for  the  sake  of  others  refrain 
from  the  doing  of  what  in  itself  considered 
they  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  do.  Of  course 
I  am  saying  nothing  new  in  this  account 
I  am  giving  of  the  Pauline  doctrine  of 
Christian  expediency.  It  is  only  what  the 
Alexanders  and  the  Hodges  and  all  the  great 
lights  of  Princeton   divinity  have   said  all 


along.  But  I  am  afraid  that  in  contem- 
porary discussions  of  the  temperance  ques- 
tion, this  principle  which  it  seems  to  me  is 
vital  to  the  whole  controversy  is  very  com- 
monly Idst  sight  of  or  altogether  misunder- 
stood. 

Paul  enunciates  the  duty  of  having  a 
benevolent  regard  for  the  conscience  of  the 
weak  brother  in  connection  with  a  discus- 
sion regarding  the  practice  of  eating  meats 
offered  to  iduls.  The  apostle  would  do  noth- 
ing that  would  weaken  the  moral  purpose 
or  shake  the  moral  integrity  of  his  neigh- 
bour even  though  the  thing  he  refrained 
from  doing  was  perfectly  innocent  in  itself 
To  eat  meat  offered  to  idols  was  not  in- 
trinsically wrong  :  but  in  the  judgment  of 
some  this  might  seem  like  a  concession  to 
idolatry :  and  under  these  circumstances 
the  apostle  would  refrain  from  the  exercise 
of  his  liberty.  In  other  words,  says  Paul, 
we  are  to  consider  not  only  what  our  own 
conscience  has  to  say,  but  how  our  act  may 
affect  the  consciences  of  others.  I  must  not 
do  what  my  conscience  allows  if  in  doing 
so  I  tempt  my  neighbour  to  do  what  his 
conscience  condemns,  since  for  him  to  act 
in  violation  of  his  conscience  would  be  for 
him  to  sin.  "  Conscience  I  say  then  not 
thine  own  but  of  the  other."  Now  I  ven- 
ture to  say  that  we  all  recognize  this  great 
altruistic  principle.  For  all  to  whom  the 
New  Testament  is  authoritative,  the  prin- 
ciple is  an  objective  law.  The  carrying  out 
of  that  law  must,  in  the  nature  of  the  case, 
be  largely  left  to  the  individual  conscience. 
Men  apply  this  principle  in  different   ways 


in  regard  to  the  use  of  wine.  Some  consci- 
entiously abstain  at  all  times;  some  as 
conscientiously  are  governed  in  their  ab- 
stinence by  considerations  of  time,  place  and 
circumstances.  We  must  not  charge  men 
with  hypocrisy  or  intemperance  or  fanatic- 
ism because  they  do  not  agree  with  us  in 
the  application  of  a  principle  which  we  all 
alike  recognize  as  obligatory.  But  you 
and  I  should  ask  ourselves  the  question, 
How  can  I  best  carry  out  this  great  prin- 
ciple? Speaking,  then,  to  you  to-day  I 
could  wish  that  there  might  grow  up  in 
your  hearts  the  feeling  that  you  ought  not 
to  do  any  thing  that  will  endanger  the 
Christian  manhood  of  one  of  your  friends 
or  classmates.  Let  us  begin  to  put  this 
Pauline  principle  in  practice  in  the  spheres 
where  our  influence  is  most  palpable.  The 
way  to  feel  the  power  of  the  principle  is  to 
apply  it  in  concrete  cases.  The  weak 
brother  who  so  easily  loses  his  self- 
control,  who  is  so  easily  overcome  by 
temptation,  is  constantly  giving  you  the 
opp  )rtunity  to  put  in  practice  the  Pauline 
doctrine.  I  venture  to  say  that  most  of 
you  have  a  weak  brother  among  your  ac- 
quaintances. He  is  your  room-mate  or  a 
member  of  your  club,  or  he  belongs  to  the 
same  athletic  organization,  or  he  goes  with 
you  on  the  trip  of  the  Glee  Club.  He  is 
apt  to  be  what  is  known  as  a  nice  fellow, 
generous,  warm-hearted,  buoyant,  full 
of  good  impulses ;  and  you  love  him. 
Here  is  a  chance  for  you  to  act  on  Paul's 
principle.  I  am  sure  that  you  and  I  have 
acted  on  this  principle   a  great  many  times. 


Let  us  continue  to  act  on  it,  and  we  shall 
find  that  the  area  of  altruistic  abstention 
from  what  is  allowable  is  constantly  widen- 
ing. We  shall  find  ourselves  saying:  "All 
things  are  lawful  for  me  but  all  things  are 
not  expedient."  And  if  in  due  time  this 
principle  should  take  the  form  of  a  univer- 
sal proposition,  so  far  as  the  use  of  alcoholic 
liquors  is  concerned,  you  will  have  the 
satisfaction  of  feeling  that  the  law  in  this 
universal  form  is  not  one  which  has  been 
forced  upon  you  from  without,  but  one  that 
has  emanated  from  your  own  conscience, 
that  it  is  binding  upon  you  because  self- 
legislated  ;  and  that  it  leaves  you  free  from 
any  tendency  to  a  censorious  judgment  of 
your  neighbor,  whose  application  of  the 
Pauline  principle  of  benevolent  regard  for 
others  is  confined  to  concrete  instances  and 
is  conditioned  by  time,  place  and  circum- 
stances. 

But  besides  your  benevolent  regard  for 
your  neighbor  I  think  I  may  wisely  ask 
you  to  have  a  prudent  regard  for  your 
own  best  interests.  If  any  duty  is  intu- 
itively given  us  in  consciousness  it  is 
Temperance,  I  mean  the  duty  of  self-con- 
trol. Let  me  caution  you,  then,  against 
habits  which  put  this  self-control  in  peril. 
In  doing  this  I  feel  sure  that  I  can  count 
on  the  moral  support  of  a  great  many  who 
themselves  hold  no  extreme  positions.  There 
are  a  great  many  men  in  mature  life  who 
have  no  conscientious  scruples  againt  tak 
ing  an  occasional  glass  of  wine,  who,  never- 
theless, feel  that  it  is  not  a  good  thing  fur 
young  men  in  college  to  contract  the   habit 


of  drinking  even  in  the  most  moderate  way. 
I  confess  that  my  conscience  is  in  accord 
with  this  feeling.  You  are  young,  you  are 
in  health,  you  suffer  from  no  depression  of 
spirits,  you  enjoy  life  in  abundance  ;  there 
is  no  reason  why  you  should  seek  to  have  it 
more  abundantly  in  the  temporary  exhilara- 
tion thatcomes  from  alcohol  in  either  its  dif- 
fused or  concentrated  fonu.  I  feel  sure  that  the 
good  sense  of  temperate  people  everywhere 
will  approve  of  our  law  respecting  intoxi- 
cating drinks  whatever  may  be  their  individ- 
ual opinion  respecting  the  political  doctrine 
of  prohibition  or  the  moral  doctrine  of  total 
abstinence.  And  so  I  come  to  you  this  after- 
noon and  ask  for  your  co-operation  with  us 
in  promoting  Temperance  in  Princeton 
University  by  giving  this  law  your  consci- 
entious support.  I  confess  that  I  have  on 
more  than  one  occasion  been  gratified  and 
strengthened  by  the  example  of  men  who 
have  no  conscientious  scruples  against  the 
moderate  use  of  wine,  who  have  used  it  and 
would  use  it  again  if  they  desired  to,  but 
who  have,  if  I  may  say  so,  outgrown  the 
use  of  it  and  have  ceased  to  care  for  it.  I  am 
not  indifferent  to  the  excesses  I  sometimes  see; 
but  I  hope  I  am  correct  in  supposing — this 
at  least  is  my  observation,  and  this  is  what  I 
am  told  by  men  who  are  far  better  able  to 
judge  than  I  am — that  there  is  a  tendency 
in  social  life  if  not  to  a  diminished  use  of 
wine  at  least  to  the  use  of  it  in  diminished 
quantity.  The  man  of  the  world's  social 
philosophy,  unless  I  greatly  err,  is  looking 
in  the  direction  of  moderation.  Let  us  carry 
this  social  philosophy  a  little   further.     Let 


us  lift  up  a  high  standard  in  respect  to  the 
great  duty  of  self-control.  Let  us  dis- 
countenance convivial  drinking.  Lot  us 
avoid  the  habitual  use  of  stimulants  in  any 
form.  I  know  I  am  safe  in  giving  you  this 
advice.  1  know  that  if  you  will  act  upon 
J.  it  it  will  be  to  your  advantage.  It  will  at 
least  eliminate  one  of  the  contingencies 
from  the  problem  of  your  success  in  life.     I 

should  be  sorrv  if  the  professional  career  of 
ft  "  • 

any  one  of  you  were  blighted  by  habits   of 

conviviality  contracted  here.  I  should  be 
sorry  to  see  you  start  in  the  great  race  of  life 
under  the  terrible  handicap  of  ill  repute. 

My  brother,  I  envy  you  your  place  in 
this  world.  You  are  in  the  morning  of 
life.  You  are  on  the  threshold  of  your 
manhood.  You  have  a  future.  Your 
prospects  ^re  bright.  But  a  great  struggle 
is  befure  you.  You  need  the  unhampered 
use  of  all  your  powers  :  good  health,  an 
unclouded  mind,  trained  intellect,  good 
manners,  strict  integrity,  high  moral  pur- 
pose, indomitable  energ}'.  You  have  great 
advantage  in  education.  But  you  will 
meet  your  match  in  the  keen  competition 
of  business  and  professional  life.  You  will 
from  the  very  outset  of  yo\u  career  be  en- 
gaged in  a  great  fight  with  circumstances. 
Success  will  mean  that  you  have  the 
power  in  no  small  degree  of  influentially 
affecting  the  lives  of  other  men,  of  inspiring 
their  confidence,  controlling  their  judgment, 
shaping  their  conduct.  But  you  must  first 
learn  the  lesson  of  self-control  ;  you  must 
rule  your  own  spirit  if  you  are  to  be  master- 
ful among  men.     You  must   fight   out   to 


the  finish  the  great  battle  of  duty  against 
inclination,  of  reason  against  appetite,  of 
conscience  against  lust,  of  the  spirit  against 
the  flesh.  I  do  not  feel  much  confidence 
in  the  world's  panaceas.  They  work  too 
much  on  the  outside.  Your  life  is  the  pro- 
duct of  inner  principle  and  external  environ- 
ment. The  world's  schemes  of  reformation 
make  too  much  of  circumstances  and  too 
little  of  character.  I  would  lessen  temptation 
were  it  in  my  power  ;  but  I  would  also  have 
)ou  know  that  the  great  moral  victories 
are  gained  in  the  face  of  temptations  and  by 
giving  them  battle.  I  would  do  all  that 
can  be  done  to  make  your  environment 
here  favorable  to  moral  life.  Let  legisla- 
tion put  what  restrictions  on  evil  it  wisely 
can.  Let  academic  law  find  strict  enforce- 
ment. Let  public  sentiment  exert  deterrent 
influence.  Let  there  be  such  a  spirit  of 
high-toned  behaviour  among  our  students 
that  men  will  fear  the  penalty  of  social  dis- 
approval. Let  the  influence  of  religion,  the 
sweet  memories  of  home,  and  the  prayers 
and  counsels,  the  hopes  and  ambitions  of 
fathers  and  mothers  whose  yearning  hearts 
in  these  their  declining  years  are  turning  in 
strong,  tender,  unselfish,  anxious  affection 
toward  you,  invite  you  to  live  the  manly,  up- 
right. Christian  life.  But  when  all  is  done 
we  shall  find  that  it  is  in  the  very  centre  of 
your  being  that  the  work  of  reformation 
must  begin.  It  is  here  that  the  profound 
philosophy  of  Christianity  reveals  itself. 
For  it  and  it  alone  can  subdue  the  will, 
can  sanctify  the  affections,  can  change  the 
heart,  can  regenerate  the   character.      And 


\/ 


it  is  in  the  hope  that  you  will  know  the 
power  of  the  gospel  that  I  summon  you  to 
take  up  arms  at  once  against  the  fleshly  lusts 
that  war  against  the  soul.  Fight  appetite. 
Learn  lessons  from  your  training  for  other 
contests.  Keep  your  body  under.  Don't 
break  y<  ur  moral  training.  You  may  win 
another  and  a  brighter  garland  for  the 
brow  of  your  alma  mater.  You  may  add 
another  star  to  the  crown  of  her  rejoicing. 
For  your  own  sake,  and  fur  her  sake,  and 
for  the  world's  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of 
Him  who  came  to  seek  and  to  save  you, 
determine  now  to  win  the  great  battle  of  your 
life  which  shall  make  you  master  of  yourself. 
I  do  not  think  that  this  battle  against 
appetite  will  be  so  easily  won  by  some  of  you. 
I  do  not  think  that  any  of  us  is  so  safe  that  he 
can  aiford  to  boast.  '•  Let  him  that  thiiikcth 
he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall."  It  is 
a  constant  battle  with  temptation  in  some 
form  or  other  that  we  have  to  fight.  And 
notwithstanding  holy  influence  without  and 
high  principle  within  ;  in  s-pite  of  public 
sentiment,  and  righteous  law,  and  warn- 
ing conscience,  and  religious  faith,  and 
hallowed  memories,  and  hopes  and  fears, 
and  the  softening  touch  of  grief,  and 
the  calm  of  quiet  Sabbath  days,  a  man  may 
yet  in  some  unguarded  moment  be  the  victim 
of  his  besetting  sin.  Do  you  not  remember 
what  George  Herbert  says  :  — 
Lord,  with  what  care  hast  Thou  begirt  us 

round  ! 
Parents  first  season  us;  then  school-masters 
Deliver  us  to  laws  ;  they  send  us,  bound 
To  rules  of  reason,  holy  messengers, 


Pulpits  and  Sundays,  sorrow  dogging  sin. 
Afllictions  sorted,  anguish  of  all  sizes, 
Fine  nets  and  stratagems  to  catch  us  in, 
Bibles  laid  open,  millions  of  surprises  ; 

Blessings  beforehand,  ties  of  gratefulness, 
The  sound  of  glory  ringing  in  our  ears. 
Without   our   shame  ;     within,    our     cm 

sciences  ; 
Angels  and  grace,  eternal  hopes  and  fears,  j 

Yet  all  these  fences,  and  their  whole  array 
One  cunning  bosom  sin  blows  quite  away. 

I  have  been  speaking  with  especial  refer- j 
ence  to  one  form    of  temptation.      But  youj 
know  that  the  Bible  doctrine  of  temperance! 
eyKpcLTeia  does  not  have  any  exclusive  refer- 
ence to  matters  of  meat  and  drink.      Therel 
are   other   temptations   besides    those    thatS 
have  been  specially  referred  to.     You  need! 
to  learn  this  duty  of  self-control  with  refer- 
ence to    your   whole   moral  life.     And  the! 
best  aid  to  your  moral  life  is  religious  faith. 
It  is  when  you  feel  your  weakness  that  you 
are    really    strong.     It  is   when  most  con- 
scious of  insufficiency    that   3'ou    will    feelj 
that  your   sufficiency  is  of  God      Learn  to 
distrust  yourself  and  lean  on   Christ.     Lay 
aside  every   weight  and   the  sin  that  doth  I 
so  easily  beset  you   and   run  with  patience 
the  race  that  is  set  before  you,  looking  untoj 
Jesus. 

"  Now  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  keep  you 
from  falling  and  to  preserve  you  faultless 
before  the  presence  of  His  glory  with  ex- 
ceeding joy,  to  the  dnly  wise  God  our 
Saviour,  be  glory,  and  majesty,  dominion] 
and  power,  both  now  and  forever.     Amen. 


Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
Slocltton,  Calif. 

mnmummm  jun  ui  ah 


—-* — .^^        - 

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LD4616.P32 

An  address  to  the  students  of  Princeton 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00077  1735 


